Profile
Background:
Gerry graduated with an Honours degree in Chemistry from Paisley College of Technology in 1978. After working in the food industry for a year, he continued his studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow where he gained an MSc in Applied Colloid and Interface Science (1981) and a PhD in colloidal drug delivery (1984) from the Departments of Pure and Applied Chemistry and Pharmacy respectively. After a further year as a research associate in the Pharmacy Department, where he constructed an instrument to measure drug-membrane interactions using quasi-elastic laser light scattering, he joined Fisons Pharmaceuticals in Loughborough in 1985.
From 1985-2002 he worked as the Preformulation team manager in the Pharmaceutical and Analytical R&D Department of AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood. In this role, he led a team that conducted physicochemical characterisation and selection studies of candidate drugs for development. During 2002 he transferred to the Process Engineering function of Process R&D where, as a Principal Scientist, he built a team concentrating on the development, scale up and trouble-shooting of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) crystallisation processes. During this time he also significantly increased the process analytical technology (PAT) capability of the department. In April 2011, Gerry elected for early retirement due to AZ’s exit from its Loughborough site.